Day #20

On Friday we are flying to Maryland to see our youngest son graduate from college.

We just talked to Wes, and he sounded great. His big oral exam went well last Friday… we are so proud of him!

During the conversation I felt both happy and sad at the same time: Happy that he was finishing, sad that it was ending.

I started this little blog project planning to end it the day we got on the airplane… which is just five days from now. Oops.

Apparently I don’t know how to count.

So I will do my best to continue over the big Graduation weekend. If I miss a day, you know where to find me… probably smiling and crying at the same time on the St. John’s College campus in Annapolis, MD.

Day #18

I found these flowers yesterday at a shop in my neighborhood. I’ve forgotten the name of them… but I know one of you knows! Please comment! Anenomes! (Thanks Patti and Hazel and Eli!)

_______________

Something WRITTEN.

Last summer I watched a young man do an impromptu dance performance in the public square near our apartment. He appeared to be working something out… trying various moves and sequences, jumping onto poles and sculptures, and clearly playing with his hands and feet.

At one point he slipped his hoodie off (hot?) and then, a minute later, his t-shirt. (When a few minutes later he appeared to be fumbling with his belt, I panicked slightly… but all was well… his pants stayed put.)

There was music coming from somewhere… his?

Still moving, he pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket that he alternately peered at and raised to the sky.

Day #16

Thing you need to know #1:
My mom had a big birthday last month. I was able to surprise her and arrived in the middle of her birthday party!

Thing you need to know #2:
On the airplane from Seattle to Denver I had been thinking of the amount of time we had lived in Seattle — seven years — and how fast it has gone. (Wes in high school – blink -high school graduation – blink – Wes in collage – blink – Wes graduating in just 10 days… so very fast!)

Sevens:
Because children probably always think of their parents as old, my mom at 80 seems, well, “up there.”

When I saw my mom at the party, I had a weird thought: How many “Sevens” (the number of years that have just flown by so fast) will it take before I am 80, like my mother?

Day #11

Something FOUND.

Coney Island Seattle

_______________Something WRITTEN.

We live in downtown Seattle and our “porch” is Occidental Square, a no-grass city park just across the street and around the building. It’s sunny today so I decided to go there to try and write this post.

I had just sat down when “Michael” asked if I wanted to play chess.

I’m pretty horrible at chess (I can beat my grandsons sometimes), and I’ve never played a stranger in a park, but I said “yes” before I could stop myself and proceeded to almost get checkmated in the first three moves.

“You want to protect the middle,” he told me good-naturedly. “No one in the history of tournaments has ever made that move [the one I had made to start the game].”

He checkmated in about 8-10 more moves… schooled! But somehow he didn’t make me feel stupid. Thank you, Michael.

Then he asked if I would like to play again.

I didn’t — getting pounded once per day is about my limit. But I just MIGHT try again another time, as the pounding was a surprisingly pleasant experience.

I might ask him to handicap himself, though. Such as letting him start with only his king and the pawns.

Oh. Never mind.

_______________

Something MADE.

Someone shared a link on FB a few months ago about an artist who made her own paintbrushes with items from nature, and she inspired me to try it today. (So sorry, I couldn’t find that artist, but I did find THIS POST with some cool handmade brushes! The artist is Lorna Crane! Thanks, Laura.)

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Hello! I am Carla Sonheim, a Seattle-based artist who works with drawing, watercolor, and mixed-media. I host online art classes with a variety of talented teachers through Carla Sonheim Presents: carlasonheim.com. I am also the author of 3 instructional art books. Read more here.